Tony Stark
Anthony "Tony" Stark is a billionaire industrialist and inventor. He runs Stark Industries, originally started by his father, Howard Stark. While in Afghanistan, Tony was captured by Ten Ring, who ordered him to build the Jericho missile for them. Instead Stark, with Ho Yinsen, used their resources to build a suit of armor and make their escape. Returning to America, Stark improves his armor and becomes the superhero Iron Man. Stark is still human, with the exception of an Arc Reactor in his chest. However, by the end of Iron Man 3, he has the shrapnel removed, no longer needing the arc reactor. He is one of the richest, smartest and most powerful men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His power, however, comes from his high-tech battle suit known as the Iron Man Armor, which grants him extraordinary strength, durability, flight capabilities and various on-board weaponry. He is a founding member of the Avengers. Biography Early Life Born to Howard and Maria Stark on May 29, 1970. Tony's early life was often dominated by the absence of his father who he would later describe as 'cold' and 'calculating'. Tony was also highly annoyed by Howard's constant talk about Captain America. However from an early age, he quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four he built his first circuit board, at age six his first engine, and at seventeen he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Stark claimed that at age 14, he still had a nanny. Then his parents were killed in a car accident in 1991. Howard Stark's lifelong friend Obadiah Stane became the CEO of Stark Industries. At age twenty-one that same year, Tony became the new CEO and ushered in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, and satellite targeting. He changed the face of the weapons industry. On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, met Ho Yinsen who introduced Tony to Dr. Wu. After Tony arrogantly avoided crippled scientist Aldrich Killian, who wanted Stark's backing in his endeavour Advanced Ideas Mechanics. Tony completely forgot about the man, after promising to meet him on the roof, in favor of spending time with scientist Maya, offering some brief observations on her work and then leaving the morning after, unaware that Killian would become vengeful of Tony's set up. At some point he also became friends with lieutenant colonel James Rhodes, hired Virginia Potts as his personal assistant with Harold Hogan as his personal bodyguard. ''Iron Man Tony skipped an award ceremony to gamble at a nightclub, forcing his friend Obadiah Stane to accept the award on his part, something Rhodey would confront him about later. When Tony was heading home, he was asked some questions by reporter Christine Everhart, but ended up sleeping with her instead. The next day he embarked on a trip he was 3 hours late for to Afghanistan. During the business trip to demonstrate the Stark Industries' new weapon, the "Jericho" cluster missile, Tony's convoy is attacked by terrorists. One of his own company's bombs lands near him and explodes. The blast causes him to lose consciousness and embeds several pieces of shrapnel in his chest, one fragment dangerously close to his heart. He wakes up some time later with an electromagnet attached to his chest. Hooked up to a car battery, the electromagnet keeps the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Tony has been captured by the terrorist group Ten Rings, who order him to build a Jericho missile for them. Instead, he and fellow captive Dr. Yinsen secretly build a crude but strong power armor (Mark 1) fueled by a miniature "arc reactor", a smaller version of a power source previously invented by Tony. The arc reactor supplies energy to an electromagnet which prevents embedded shrapnel from reaching Tony's heart, which would kill him. Dr.Yinsen is killed in the ensuing escape attempt when he stalls the guards to buy Tony enough time to power up the suit. Using the suit, Tony kills several terrorists, destroys their weapons stockpile, and escapes, though his suit is destroyed as he crash lands in the desert. Upon being picked up by the Air Force and returning to the United States, Tony declares that his company will, for the time being, no longer manufacture weapons. His father's friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane, tells him that this move is blocked by the board members shortly after. Tony retreats from public view, focusing on the design of his power suit, refining its size and flight capability (Mark 2). He asks Pepper to help him take his old arc reactor out and to put in a new one. During his first public appearance since his return to the United States, he is accosted by Christine Everhart, who shows him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of terrorist groups, including the Jericho missiles he refused to build for them. He also discovers that Obadiah has been "dealing under the table", supplying weapons to both the U.S. troops and the terrorists, as well as being the one to shut Tony out of the board while he recovers. Faced with the realization of what his company has done, Tony dons the power suit (Mark 3) and flies to Afghanistan, rescuing Yinsen's village from the Ten Rings. In destroying their weapon stockpiles, he accidentally draws the attention of the United States Air Force and his friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. Two F-22 Raptors are ordered to take out the unknown target, and during the confrontation one of the Raptors loses its left wing when it accidentally collides with Tony. The pilot ejects shortly afterwards, but his parachute jams. Realizing this, Tony dives down to help the pilot release his parachute before escaping. Determined to make amends for his mistakes, Tony sends Pepper to find the shipping records of Stark Industries, so he can track down the illicit shipments and destroy them. While hacking into the system, she discovers that it was Obadiah who hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony, but they had reneged on the deal when they realized who the target was. She also discovers that Obadiah has recovered the power suit prototype and has reverse engineered his own version. However, his team of scientists, not possessing Tony's genius, cannot engineer the miniature arc reactor to power the new suit. Obadiah, upon realizing Pepper's discovery, steals Tony's own arc reactor from his chest to power his new suit, leaving Tony to die. Using his first reactor, which was not designed to power his latest armor, Tony battles with Obadiah atop Stark Industries and the surrounding streets, defeating him when the full-sized arc reactor that powers the lab is deliberately overloaded by Pepper. Afterwards, Tony's alter ego is dubbed "Iron Man" by the press. Tony holds a press conference where his S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts advise him to state that Iron Man is Tony's bodyguard. However, he instead announces that he actually is Iron Man. Later, Tony arrives home and is greeted by a mysterious visitor standing by the window. He reveals himself as Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., warns him that he is not the only 'super hero' in the world, and mentions the Avengers Initiative. ''Iron Man: Security Measures When S.H.I.E.L.D. was investigating the Iron Man armor, they tried to hack Stark's home computer, but Stark detected them and tracked the signal of the S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite through a shell corporation which he blew up. ''Iron Man: Fast Friends'' Sometime before Tony was captured by the Ten Rings, Rhodey was present in Arizona when Tony was presenting his accelerated wave explosion. One hour later Tony went to a nightclub along with Rhodey. In the nightclub, Tony is punched in the face by a man in the club upset with him after his girlfriend left with Stark a week prior. Rhodey then intervenes, and punches the man back. After the death of Obadiah Stane, Rhodey had Tony go to the hospital. When Tony asked what hospital they were going to, Rhodey said it was a "surprise", when they were actually heading to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base where Agent Coulson was waiting for them. Coulson explains to Stark he is not efficient in battle, and Stark asks Rhodey what is going on. Rhodey tells Stark he may be getting recruited. Stark claimed he knows how to fight, but Coulson said "Not yet.". Coulson then presents Stark and Rhodey their headquarters explaining to them what they do at S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson then told them that they had Pepper Potts schedule a conference about the battle. When Stark asked what he should say in the conference, Rhodey bets that they will give him a script and hopes Tony will stick with it, which Coulson confirms. As S.H.I.E.L.D. wants the whole episode as quiet as possible, Stark promises he knows when to be quiet. The next day Tony reveals to the world that he's Iron Man. ''I Am Iron Man! After Fury offered Stark the opportunity to join the Avengers Initiative, Stark rejected the offer and told Fury to leave, but Fury warned him that he will keep an eye on him. Iron Man 2: Public Identity Sometime after revealing that he's Iron Man, Tony uses his suit to have some fun on a yacht with some girls, and he later tells his personal chauffeur and bodyguard Harold "Happy" Hogan that he missed out on the fun. Later at a party, Pepper told Tony that Colonel Rhodes wanted to speak with him, she told Rhodes to wait for Stark in his house. Stark asked her why she doesn't call him Rhodey like everyone else, but thanked her for relaying the message to him. When he returned home, Rhodey told him that ever since he revealed to everyone that he is Iron Man, he discovered a new hobby: covering for Tony. Tony simply joked saying that he was there for business unrelated to the military. As they went downstairs, Rhodey asked him if he was the one who hit the depot in Pavlodar. Tony said if he thought that he was interested in a Ten Rings sect in cahoots with rogue Russian nationalists, then that would be his next vacation spot, they could do worse in Kazakhstan in Spring. Rhodes confirmed that the Ten Rings were invoved, but at least the Hostages were okay, as they could've died. Tony told him that nobody will die on his watch. Rhodey claims that it was a matter of protocol and that Tony was making people nervous by rushing and dealing with situations before they can officialy deploy him. Tony appreciated that the military wanted him to work with them, but told Rhodey to try living with the Arc Reactor sitting in his chest, pointing out that if it wasn't for the reactor, he wouldn't be Iron Man. Rhodey informed Tony that his superiors had him writing an evaluation of Iron Man. J.A.R.V.I.S. tells Tony about an emergency at Al Kūt as Rhodey receives a phone call about the situation. He then asks Tony to do reconnaissance before going to Al Kūt, but Tony told him that people were dying, so he put on his armor and left. In Al Kūt, Stark defeated all of the Ten Rings members and saved the news crew that was over there. Later in the Gulf of Aden, he took out a boat of Somali Pirates. While visiting his father's mansion, Tony remembered something his former butler Edwin Jarvis said: "Time heals all wounds". J.A.R.V.I.S. asked him why he was installed there, Tony said it was a force of habit, stating that Jarvis had always been there and was always the happiest to see him when Tony visited from Boarding School. Tony checked his father's library, and told J.A.R.V.I.S. that his father never let him go in there, he always had to sneak in when Howard was out of the house, but never found anything good in there. J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted Tony telling him that they had an incoming Priority Alert. Tony declared that it was time for another vacation in the desert. Tony then headed to Afghanistan where he called Pepper who was waiting for him in a board meeting at Stark Industries. He told her to keep his seat warm and to keep a smile like everthing was fine. In Afghanistan, the Ten Rings had planted mines, so Stark thought they were trying to leave a message for him and decided to leave a message of his own, by firing his Magna-Drone which retrieved all of the mines. When Tony returned from Afghanistan, Pepper and Rhodey visited. Pepper asked if he had a "nice holiday" and Rhodey told him that Justin Hammer had started to get friendly with his superiors and that Stark was coming across as more and more independent when it came to the work he's doing for them. Rhodey received a call informing him that the Aerodynamic Marvel was shot down and fell into enemy territory. Rhodey told Tony that they had a trained airman to pilot the machine and he had been taken captive. Tony put his armor on and went to save the pilot. Once successfully saving the pilot, General Ross ordered Stark to land on Cairo West Air Base immediately. Stark then met with Ross who informed him that they had picked up on a shoot-out with the Congolese army and yet Stark didn't return fire, stating that when someone fires on an American, that American has to fire back. He also told Stark that by claiming that he won't manufacture any more weapons, he was distancing himself from his father's legacy. Stark warned him if he heard about another innocent being put in harm's way that there will be consequences. Stark then left Egypt and returned home. ''Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron As Tony was driving to a meeting on Gorani Insurance, Pepper called him telling him that he gets easily distracted; telling Tony to make to the meeting on time. When Tony asks Pepper if Evetta Gorani is taking over the company, Pepper asks him if he's talking about her because she's attractive, and Stark replies by asking if she thinks he's the type of man who would be distracted in a business meeting just because he came across an attractive vice president. Pepper replies that she does think that. Tony is then stopped by the police, and Pepper thinks Tony did something wrong, but Tony assures her he didn't do anything. One of the officers tells Tony there was a museum robbery, in which five men stole over a hundred million dollars worth of impressionist paintings, and they escaped in a red SUV. Stark tells Pepper why he was stopped, but she isn't suaded because it made him more late for the meeting and tells him to not stop for anything else. However as he drives, Stark passes by an attractive woman and he stops to ask if she had a flat tire, which she confirms. She also tells him she's late for a meeting. Stark then changes the tire and asks for her number, saying to write it on the tire, enter it on his phone, or wait till fate brings them together again. After she leaves Pepper calls again asking if he got dumped. Stark says that he's just waiting for fate and tells her she should have told him that she was still on the phone. Pepper jokes saying that if she had told him, she would missed all the fun and then reminds him to not miss the meeting. As they talk, Tony encounters the thieves the officer told him about, and sees the paintings inside the SUV. They see Stark, but Tony goes to his Audi, where he picks the glove off his suit, defeating the theives. Stark then arrives at the meeting where he realizes the woman he encountered earlier was Evetta Gorani. Tony finds out that Gorani Insurance insured the museum the theives robbed, and his actions saved the company over 100 million dollars by retrieving the stolen property. ''Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. As some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discover the Ten Rings' cell control in a vessel, Iron Man arrived on the scene and destroyed the cell control and defeated many of the terrorists. Before leaving, he recorded a conversation that a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had with Fury. Iron Man 2 Six months after revealing his Identity to the world and has since then helped maintain world peace. Tony appears as Iron Man at the grand Opening of The Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows, New York, continuing the Legacy his Father started. Unfortunately Tony's life isn't as good as it appears. He is faced with two threats: One in the form of his own heart, it seems the Arc Reactor palladium core is poisoning him causing him a slow painful death due to over uses of the Iron Man armor. The second threat is from a Senate committee hearing, led by Senator Stern, demanding that Tony should release his technology of the Iron Man armor for military applications. Tony refuses, believing that it's not in the best interest of the American people for the military to possess that which they'll use as a weapon that could very well be used against America. Senator Stern tries to turn Tony's best friend Lt. Colonel James Rhodes against him in an effort to force him. His competitor Justin Hammer tries to plead his case in the matter, Tony takes this opportunity to embarrass both Justin and Stern with a collection of video footage of Justin and others around the world attempting to recreating the complex technology. Tony arrogantly states that it will take years before anyone will be able to successfully recreate the tech. Tony returns to his home where he and J.A.R.V.I.S. try to find a solution in finding a new power source for the Arc Reactor. Uncertain of his outcome of survival, Tony appoints his former personal assistant Pepper CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman. Growing increasingly despondent and thrill-seeking as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, Tony races at the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ivan Vanko, who has constructed an arc reactor of his own, along with whip-like energy weapons, attacks Tony. With the aid of Pepper and Happy Hogan who hands him his portable briefcase armor. Tony dons the Mark V armor and defeats Ivan. Afterward, Tony pays Ivan a visit in a French prison to find out how he acquired the technology. During the conversation, Ivan reveals that he is the son of Anton Vanko, who collaborated with Howard on the first arc reactor but was deported back to the Soviet Union and died in poverty. Ivan blames the Starks for his family's fate, and seeks revenge. Ivan also mentions he's fully aware of Tony's current heart poisoning, saying it's a painful way to die. On Route back home with Pepper to celebrate his upcoming Birthday, Tony attempts to tell her the truth behind his current series of reckless acts. Wanting to escape from all his current problems Tony tries to convince Pepper to take a detour in Italy. Unfortunately due to the media pressure of the recent incident in Monaco with Whiplash has everyone on edge demanding that Tony turn over the technology now. Ivan escapes prison thanks to Justin who intends to use Ivan's knowledge of Tony's technology to create his own army of armored soldiers to discredit Iron Man. Tony throws what he believes will be his last birthday party, gets roaring drunk while wearing the Iron Man armor and indulges in dangerous activities, forcing his friend, Rhodey, to intervene. Rhodey dons Tony's Mark II armor and after almost destroying Tony's house in the resulting fight, delivers the armor to the military. The next day, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Tony, revealing Natalie as undercover agent Natasha Romanoff and that Howard was a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder. Fury gives Tony some of Howard's old material to aid in finding a cure for the palladium poisoning. A hidden message in the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo proves to be a diagram of a new element's atomic structure. With the aid of his computer J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony synthesizes the new element and cures himself. Afterward, Ivan contacts Tony, revealing he is still alive and set on revenge. Tony dons the newly-constructed Mark VI armor and files off to the Expo. At the Expo, Justin unveils his new military drones, captained by Rhodey wearing a heavily weaponized version of the Mark II armor known as War Machine. Tony as Iron Man arrives to warn Rhodey, but Ivan seizes control of both the drones and Rhodey's armor, setting them to attack Iron Man. Pepper has Hammer arrested while Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan and Agent Romanoff race to Hammer's Queens facility. They find Ivan has already left, but Natasha is able to turn over control of the Mark II armor to Rhodes. Eliminating the remaining drones, Tony and Rhodey are confronted by Ivan in his new, more powerful suit of armor. He is defeated when Tony and Rhodey fire repulsor rays at each other, triggering an explosion beside Ivan. Too injured to continue the fight, Ivan ignites his and drones' self-destruct bombs, apparently killing himself in the process. Tony races to save Pepper amid a series of explosions. Pepper quits her position as CEO, and she and Tony kiss. Rhodey departs with the Mark II armor without serious objection from Tony. At a debriefing, while showing news footage of another superhuman event, Fury informs Tony that while Iron Man is a suitable candidate for the "Avengers Initiative", Tony himself is not. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants Tony in a consultant position, to which Tony agrees on the condition that Senator Stern present himself and Rhodey with their medals for bravery. Fury's Big Week By the night he was fighting Rhodey at his birthday party, Stark only had around 72 hours to live. The Incredible Hulk After failing to capture the Hulk and the Abomination is defeated General Ross goes to a bar to drink. Tony Stark walks in and the two trade a few jabs at each other. Tony finishes by saying "We're putting together a team." Ross replies "Who's we?" He also mentions the Super Soldier Serum, saying "it was put on ice for a reason". The Consultant To prevent General Ross from freeing the Abomination, Coulson sent Stark to deliberately offend Ross. After the conversation that was seen in ''The Incredible Hulk, Ross got angry at Stark and wanted him out of the bar but Stark bought the bar instead. ''Thor Jasper Sitwell asks Phil Coulson if The Destroyer is one of Stark's latest armors when they encountered it. Coulson replies saying "I don't know. The guy never tells me anything." ''The Avengers Initiative Tony goes to Dubai and is attacked by a couple of Raiders. ''Black Widow Strikes S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to observe Stark's actions as he was seen on their computer screens. The Avengers Tony Stark activated an arc reactor prototype in Stark Tower, his New York residence. He is confronted by Phil Coulson, briefing him on a new re-established Avengers Initiative and the Tesseract in the wake of Loki's attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.. He aids Captain America in defeating Loki in Stuttgard, Germany and initially condescends to the Captain. When Thor appears to take Loki away, Stark and Thor find themselves in a fight which is ended by Captain America. Stark attempts to dispel any hard feeling against Thor. Stark takes an instant liking to Bruce Banner and attempts to justify the Hulk's existence. He and Rogers become divided over Stark's attempt to hack and expose dark secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. is keeping. While the Avengers begin a heated argument, Stark and Rogers spit insults at each other and almost turn to blows before Loki's men attack the hellicarrier. Stark and Rogers attempt to reboot the power supply to a failing engine and Stark's suit is badly damaged during this. Tony is deeply hurt by the murder of Agent Coulson at the hands of Loki, after a talk with Steve, he individually works out Loki's next attack. Stark and Rogers agree that the Avengers should become independent from S.H.I.E.L.D. and assemble at Stark Tower. Stark confronts Loki at Stark Tower where Loki is to open the portal to the Chitauri's fleet and swears to avenge the death of Coulson. After being thrown from the window, Stark assembles Iron Man Mark 7 and begins to attack the Chitauri invaders. While the battle intensifies, Stark intercepts a nuclear missile heading for New York and flies it directly into the portal, destroying the fleet but leaving him in deep space. Stark passes out before falling through the portal before it closes. Luckily, he is caught and revived by the Hulk. Waking up and realizing the Avengers have saved Earth, he suggests a celebratory meal at a shawarma restaurant, before helping the others arrest Loki. He is present when Thor teleports the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard. Tony is last seen in Stark Tower with Pepper, designing new rooms for each member of the Avengers for whenever the team is needed to assemble again. An "A" is the remaining letter on the tower. Iron Man 3 Prelude Tony reclaims the Mark II armor from Rhodey and removes all the modifications done to it by Justin Hammer. But Tony designs Rhodey a more advanced model. Since Tony was busy with the construction of Stark Tower and as a consultant to S.H.I.E.L.D. he had no time to fight against the terrorists as Iron Man. But knowing that the world expects Iron Man to be always there, he gave the armor to Rhodey to fight in his place. When Loki launched his attack on Earth, Stark called Rhodey hoping that he could provide help, but War Machine was fighting terrorists in Asia so wouldn't be able to get to New York in less than an hour. When Loki is defeated and the portal is closed, Rhodey makes it to New York and Tony introduces him to the Avengers. Later, Tony invited Rhodes to his workshop. Tony had realised that not even Iron Man and War Machine would be enough to protect the Earth so he revealed to Rhodes that he'd been developing the Iron Legion - several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled. Thor: The Dark World Prelude During the battle of New York, Iron Man asked Thor if he had ever seen ''Game of Thrones, but Thor had no idea what he was talking about, noting that despite Earth facing its doom, Stark still had the time to make jokes. Afterwards, Thor was eaten by a Leviathan, Stark then asked Thor if he'd seen Mad Men. Once Thor had killed the Leviathan with a lightning strike, Stark admitted that it was "pretty gross". ''Iron Man: The Coming of the Melter Whilst Tony was presenting how he could charge his armor with solar energy at Stark Tower, he was suddenly attacked by a villain called the Melter. The Melter quickly defeated Iron Man and announced he was going to sell his designs in a few days. Two days later, Melter attacked again and defeated War Machine. This led Tony and Rhodey to team up and confront the Melter. They defeated him and put him in the custody of the United States Military. Season 1 Tony Stark is having a nightmare where he is at the Battle of New York. He awakes in the middle of the night, and leaves the bed, nervous. Pepper asks him for staying and also what happened. He answers it was "just a nightmare", and she promises she'll take care of him. In the following morning, Tony is at the Stark Tower when Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. calls him. He ignores the call as Pepper comes in. Tony is at the Stark Mainframe when Nick Fury calls him for the second time. Tony states he doesn't want to "play with superhero stuff" at least for some time. Nick says it's an emergence, and they need a expert in technology to continue the operation. Tony agrees to be part of it, but with the condition he'll be left alone after the operation, and Nick Fury agrees with it. Tony tells Pepper he is going to a S.H.I.E.L.D mission, and promisses this one shall be the last. She kisses him and tells him to "return home alive". Later, Tony joins Agent Barton and Nick Fury at the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, and Nick explains that a strange signal is blocking their computers and technology, and Tony starts tracking the signal. As he starts tracking, Maria Hill tells them the V.A.U.L.T has been invaded by a strange group. Clint and Tony go to the Eagle, and they move on to the V.A.U.L.T., a prison full with some of the worst villains and criminals. They land up at the left side of it, that it's on fire and ruins. Clint gets his bow and Tony suits up with Mark V, and they follow the tracks. The man, revealed to be Ivan Vanko gets to the Central Room and puts the information in a pen drive. He fights Tony and Clint but jumps and escapes as the prison is blown up. The episode ends as Clint Barton and Tony Stark's bodies are taken to the mysterious man, who tells his servant to "place them in the Sector Alpha 1". Iron Man 3 Sometime after the Chitauri invasion of New York, Tony built an array of new armors, some created for specific purposes. He tested the Mark XLII, which was built so that he could summon various pieces of the armor when needed. Meanwhile, a string of bombings by terrorist The Mandarin left intelligence agencies bewildered at the lack of forensic evidence. When Happy Hogan was caught in one such attack, Tony issued a public threat to The Mandarin. Pepper approached Tony about his insecurities, claiming he had pulled away. Tony stated that he had been having trouble coping after his near-death experience in New York, claiming that "gods, aliens and other dimensions" are too much for him to handle. Pepper stated that his obsessiveness over his technology were a distraction. Later that night, Tony had visions of himself going against the Chitauri, causing him to go into distress. Pepper tried to wake him until his armor appeared, coming to Tony's aid. Maya Hansen confronted Tony at his home, warning him about the effects of his recent public warning. Pepper appeared and told Tony that it was time for them to leave until they are attacked by several helicopters, lead by Eric Savin. Tony signalled his armor onto Pepper, protecting her. Once Pepper had gotten Maya to safety, Tony summoned the armor back to himself, fending off the several helicopters surrounding him. After being out gunned, Stark was pulled into the ocean while his home demolished over him, barely escaping. Stark found himself in rural Tennessee after J.A.R.V.I.S. followed his initial flight plan to find the Mandarin. Lacking the power to return to California, the world at large believed him to be dead. Tony sent a private call, hoping for Pepper to hear. Apologizing for putting her in harm's way, Tony stated that he cannot return home yet. Stark broke into a work-shop belonging to 10-year old Harley Keener (and his family). Tony enlisted Harley's help in finding the truth behind the bombings. Seeking information, Stark set up a meeting with the mother of the recently killed (and Extremis-infected) Chad Davis. Once being handed valuable information regarding her son's death, Tony was attacked by Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin. Barely escaping from Brandt, Savin confronted Stark, threatening to kill Harley. Harley used a device given to him by Stark earlier, blinding Savin for a few moments in which the two were able to escape. With Harley's assistance, Stark tracked down the Mandarin's location in Miami - as the suit is recharging, Harley suggested that Stark builds his own gadgets. Infiltrating The Mandarin's home, Stark discovered that The Mandarin is not a terrorist, rather a British actor employed by Killian to act as a threat to America, covering up Killian's test-subjects/Extremis program. Being held in captivity, he witnessed Killian murder Maya and discovered that he has captured Pepper and is currently infecting her with Extremis. Stark escaped captivity by summoning his armor, fending off several guards. Tony reunited with Rhodes who revealed that Killian had taken control of the Iron Patriot armor, intending to launch an attack on President Ellis aboard Air Force One. Remotely controlling his armor, Stark defeated Eric Savin and saved the surviving passengers and crew but was unable to rescue Ellis from Killian. Stark and Rhodes traced Killian to an impounded oil drilling platform where he intended to kill Ellis on live television. Sneaking in, they were attacked by several Extremis soldiers. Over-powered, Stark summoned the remaining 35 armors to their aid (controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S.), armoring himself with the Silver Centurion. Tony found Pepper under wreckage when Killian unexpectedly attacked him, forcing him to bail from Mark XXXIII. Coming to Pepper's aid once again, she fell into a pit of fire after Tony tried to reach out to her, presumed dead. Enraged, Stark summons Mark XL ("Shotgun") and engages in a fight with Killian. Standing over a platform, Stark (armorless), summons Mark XLII onto Killian, trapping him. Tony orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to let it self-destruct while he escaped. Killian, alive, struck at Stark once more until Pepper, also alive (and infected with Extremis) appeared and killed Killian with the aid of Mark VII's repulsors. Shocked at Pepper's image, Tony apologized and promised to find a cure for her. Tony, seeing Pepper worried about their future, ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all his armor/tech. Surrounded by the subtler explosions in the sky, the two embraced. Later, Dr. Wu, the very man Yinsen had introduced to him years earlier in Switzerland, perfomed surgery removing shrapnel the shrapnel from Tony's heart. Stark then returned to the ruins of his Malibu home and threw his obsolete arc reactor into the ocean, because he finally understood that Iron Man is the man who "built" the armor not the armor that wears the man. Tony then recounted everything that had happened to Bruce Banner who had fallen asleep during the tale, telling Tony that he wasn't that kind of doctor. Captain America: The Winter Soldier Stark was targetted by the undercover HYDRA agents in SHIELD as a potential threat for their plans. Character traits Tony Stark is an outgoing man who enjoys drinking and gambling, all the while possessing the capacity to become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics overnight. Tony is shown to be a big fan of Australian hard rock band AC/DC. An inventive mechanical engineering prodigy, Stark is constantly creating new technology and looking for ways to improve it. At the start of ''Iron Man, he has little concern for the effect his weapons have on others. However, for all his flaws, Tony is a good man at heart and wants to use his technology to better the world. From Iron Man ''to ''Iron Man 2, Tony has a unique friendship with Rhodey. Rhodey tries to keep Tony on the straight and narrow although he has stated at times it is not that easy. Although they have been friends for many years, Tony's erratic nature at times makes it difficult for Rhodey to choose between Tony and his duty to the military as clearly evident in the second film, however, near the end of the film, they have once again become friends of one accord. In The Avengers, Tony has matured to an extent: while around Pepper he is able to openly express his feelings around her. However, upon being around the team, he still shows the same "qualities" that he is known for. He immediately clashes with Steve Rogers due to their very different personalites, and nearly come to blows when the Helicarrier falls under attack, partially due to Loki's influence clouding everyone's minds. The two quickly put their feud aside to help repair the ship. Stark quickly strikes up a friendship with Dr. Bruce Banner, as the two have several things in common including a genius-level IQ. Stark relates to him that his arc reactor--which keeps shrapnel from reaching his heart--is a great power that he can control, which is not unlike Banner's abilities as The Hulk. In fact, Stark is the only one who doesn't fear the Hulk, and helps Banner realize that The Hulk is more of a blessing than a curse. Upon Coulson's death, while he tries not to show it in front of Cap, Coulson's death has greatly affected him. By the time of the battle of New York, he has no problem taking orders from Cap, knowing what is on the line. In Iron Man 3, ''Tony, is haunted from his near death experience from ''The Avengers. ''Fearing he couldn't protect people he cared for, he made repeated upgrades of his armors, not only inserting various remote control devices into his body that would allow him to summon the new Mark XLII with his thoughts alone, but also created the "Iron Legion" of multiple armors that could be controlled remotes by J.A.R.V.I.S. Despite the anxiety attacks he has been suffering from, Tony is able to repeatedly, demonstrate the same ingenuity that got him out of that cave in Afghanistan. He used supplies found in a small restaurant to subdue an attacker and fashioned various weapons from materials availiable at a hardware store to attack the Mandarin's compound. During this attack, he demonstrated athleticism and an ability to act stealthily, climbing over walls and taking down guards, even without his armor. Around this same time, Tony meets an inventive, 10 year old boy named Harley. Harley is imediatley in awe of his idol, Iron Man, however the two, over a time, butt heads. Harley annoying Tony, and Tony hurling an endless stream of sardonic quips at Harley. Overcoming their differences, the two discover that a string of bombings claimed by a terrorist known as the Mandarin, are actually unstable test subjects for Aldrich Killian's experimental Extremis virus. Thoughout the entirety of ''Iron Man 3, ''Tony undergoes major changes from the beginning, in the end, finally losing his dependency towards the suits and realizing that it's not the armor that makes the hero, but the man that's inside. He destroys all of the suits and undergoes surgery to remove both the shrapnel and the Arc Reactor. Finally, he throws the Arc Reactor into the ocean at the site of his demolished mansion, and, before driving away with DUM-E in a trailer behind his car, asserts that he is Iron Man, even without the armors. Abilities and Skills '''Abilities ' *'Direct Cybernetic Interface: '''Thanks to the state-of-the-art microchips Tony injected into his left forearm he can now mentally control the Iron Man armor with his thoughts. This is similar to how Tony can instruct his armor to assemble at his own will after undergoing the Extremis process in the comics. **'Armor Link: Tony can mentally command the armor with his thoughts even when he fully unconscious. The Mark XLII almost attack Pepper in bed when Tony was having a nightmare. Pepper's screams woke Tony in time to shut down the armor. Tony remotely controlled the Mark XLII aboard Air Force One and battled Eric Savin. After he defeated him, the Mark XLII saved the surviving passengers and crew, while Tony was on a speed boat with Rhodey searching for Killian. **'Armor Summon: '''Thanks to the new repulsor flight system, individual pieces of the armor can self-assemble themselves on to Tony or others.Tony is able to remotely summon the Mark XLII to Pepper for her to wear after his home is attacked by the Mandarin's forces. Tony summons the Iron Legion to fight against Aldrich's Extremis solders at the oil drilling platform. Tony is forced into confronting Killian, whom he attempts to defeat by ordering the suit to assemble it's self on Killian and then activate the self-destruct. This fails to kill him. Pepper intervenes, using her new Extremis abilities to finish off Killian once and for all. *'Indomitable Will: Tony has proven time and time again why he is called Iron Man. When his back is against the wall Tony shows he has a tremendous strength of will. When the Ten Rings held Tony captive and ordered him to build them the Jericho missile, an extremely destructive, multi-warhead weapon, he begrudgingly agreed, but instead used the time to build the Mark I armor along with a miniature Arc Reactor to keep his damaged heart beating. When the Arc Reactor started to poison, him he found a cure in a diorama of the Stark Expo secretly left by his father, Howard Stark. Tony built a small particle accelerator in his workshop which he used create a new element that saved his life. Skills *'Genius Intelligence:' At age four Tony built his first circuit board, at age six his first engine, and at seventeen he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Tony later became one of smartest men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe among with Dr. Bruce Banner. Tony built the Iron Man Armor; One of the most powerful weapons on earth. When Extremis soldiers Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin attacked him, Tony improvised and used his innovative skills and knowledge with different equipment and technology to outsmart them and seemingly escape, killing Brandt. When Aldrich kidnapped Pepper and forcefully injected her with Extremis Tony was able to remove the Extremis from her body. *'Expert Engineer:' Tony was able to create the Mark 1 Iron Man armor and the first miniaturized Arc Reactor, "''With a box of scraps!" as stated by Obadiah Stane, while being held in captivity by the Ten Rings. Later, in ''Iron Man 3, Tony was able to use simple supplies he got from a hardware store to build a home-made arsenal which he used to inflitrate the Mandarin's mansion. *'Skilled Combatant:' In Iron Man 2, Tony is trained in unarmed combat and has become quite formidable on his own when the situation demands it. He was able to hold his own against Rhodey, a Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Combat Pilot. In The Avengers, Tony was able to battle Thor almost to a standstill for a time while in the Mark VI. In'' Iron Man 3'', Tony further uses his hand-to-hand combat skills and shown using martial arts. Tony was able to take down the guards at the Mandarin's mansion with ease, with the help of a homemade arsenal. Equipment *'Arc Reactor': Tony, with Yinsen's help, built a miniaturized arc reactor. The arc reactor power the electromagnet that protects Tony's heart from the shrapnel inside his chest, and also the Iron Man armor. In Iron Man 2, he develops a new element for the arc reactor power source. The new arc reactor is extremely powerful. In The Avengers, Stark's arc reactor prevents Loki from taking control of his mind. In Iron Man 3, Tony finally undergoes surgery to remove the shrapnel embedded near his heart by Dr. Wu along with the arc reactor. After Tony drops his no longer needed arc reactor into the sea. *'Armor': Tony uses high tech armor to become Iron Man. The armor allows him to fly and contains various weapons for battle. He frequently improves the armor, giving it upgrades for battles and to perfect the systems. Armor Capabilities The Iron Man Armor is arguably one of the most powerful forms of technology developed by Tony Stark. Alone, the Mark I was sufficient enough to allow him to go through armed terrorists in order to escape. The Mark II was sufficiently powerful enough to go toe to toe with a more advanced and updated version of the armor (the Mark IV). The Mark III was able to battle the Iron Monger suit, however, with some difficulty (due to the fact that it was powered by the first generation mini-arc reactor and the Iron Monger was powered by the second arc reactor he made upon his return from captivity). The Mark V, while lacking weaponry and flight capabilities, was still able to take on Vanko while just utilizing just the Whiplash harness. The Marks VI and VII proved to be the most powerful generations of suits used by Stark. The Mark VI being able to battle hordes of Hammer drones, as well as Vanko with his own armor, and the Mark VII being able to survive battles with two Asgardian gods (Thor and Loki) and hordes of alien foot soldiers and large transports (the Levithan). The Iron Legion through the Mark XLII proved to be equally powerful generation suits as they were able to battle Extermis-enhanced soldiers who themselves had enough strength to match any of the Iron Man armors. *'Flight:' One of the armors' most important features is it's ability of flight. The armor can reach speeds as fast as Mach 3 in moments. It also has various control surfaces for active flight control by J.A.R.V.I.S. to automatically stabilize the armor in flight. The armor is able to fly at speeds more than 1500 miles per hour. In the movie, the armor shows it can fly at supersonic speeds. In The Avengers, the armor's flight capabilities were improved with the addition of boosters on the back. These enable the armor to quickly evade enemy attacks and go faster than ever. This also gives Tony better stabilization while hovering and flying freeing up his hands to do other things, such as shooting down enemies. The Mark XLII was able to reach Tennessee from California in a matter of a few hours. *'Strength:' Tony, inside the armor, is capable of lifting 20 tons and can achieve higher levels of strength when powered by a sufficient source. The armor shows to be strong enough to punch through a stone wall, or catch a minivan and put it down safely. It has also enabled Tony to stun Thor, catching him off-guard as well as battle Chitauri foot soldiers with ease. The Mark XLII was able to battle Extermis-enhanced soldiers to a standstill like Eric Savin. However, Killian proved to be strong enough to match the armor strength, if not surpass it. *'Reflexes: '''The armors have motors for movement. It has shown to be extremely fast and responsive while in flight, and during fights. *'Armor Systems:' The armor has remote assistance from J.A.R.V.I.S. who manages the armor's systems at Stark's command. The helmet contains a holographic HUD (Heads-up display) which provides information regarding navigation, power levels, armor status, weapons systems, and vital signs along with cellphone and computer connections and a loudspeaker. The armor is powered by a miniaturized arc reactor or an on-board generator in emergencies. The scanner systems are capable of scanning the environment, weather conditions and equipment for information. The suit also has flare launchers on the hips. Tony designed an automatic-eject system that can be trigger by the wearer. He also installed a self-destruct protocol in the case of the armor ending up in the wrong hands. *'Durability:' The armor is made up of a strong, light weight, titanium alloy with interlocked plates for the shell, and a chest plate protecting the arc reactor. It has shown that it can withstand tremendous amounts of punishment, such as a tank shell exploding in close proximity to Stark, and a resulting fall from several thousand feet up, followed by hits from 20mm Vulcan shells and a high speed collision with an F-22 Raptor with only minimal cosmetic damage. It was also able to survive a full-on fight with an older generation suit and it was able to withstand the fights with the Hammer Drones and Whiplash, in his own specialized suit, taking only minor damage. It also protects the wearer from the effects of extreme g-forces and it even allows Stark to withstand some of Thor's attacks, although it did start to take some damage (a dent in the helmet resulting from a headbutt administered by the thunder god). Both he and Thor were struck in their heads with Captain America's shield to get their attention and stop them from fighting; there was no damage done. He was also able to withstand the abuse of the Helicarrier's turbine though, only just barely. The Mark XLII was able to take damage from having most of Tony's house collaspe on it at the bottom of the ocean. *'Energy Conversion Power Recharge:' The armor is also able to absorb and convert nearby or far away energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity. In ''The Avengers, Thor strikes Iron Man with a lightning bolt from Mjölnir, but Stark is amazed to find that the bolt charges the suits power to 400% capacity, remarking with a simple "How bout that?". In Iron Man 3, ''Tony was able to recharge the Mark XLII with a car battery before going after Eric Savin. *'Self-Contained Life-Support System and Environmental Protection:' The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuums or underwater, providing its own life support. It is also shielded against radiation. In ''The Avengers, ''the armor is shown operating underwater, as Stark uses it to activate the Arc Reactor connected to Stark Tower. However, the suit is not designed for deep space travel, as the armor's systems failed, when Stark is teleported through the Chitauri portal into space, causing him to lose consciousness as he plummets back to Earth. In ''Iron Man 3, Tony now has a specialized armor for deep space travel. *'Repulsors:' A particle beam weapon in the palm gauntlets can repel physical and energy-based attacks. Early repulsors needed time to recharge after use, because of the new arc reactor they become able to fire at a moments notice. When combined with an attack from another repuslor beam, it can create an energy shockwave that will decimate a small area, like when Tony and Rhodey both fired their repulsors at each other and the resulting event destroyed much of Stark's house. They later used it to defeat Ivan in his new Whiplash armor. The repulsors have shown to be strong enough to punch through The Hammer Drones. When the suit is charged with additional power, the repulsors are powerful enough to stun even Thor. It also enabled him to stun Loki on two occasions and take down Chitauri foot soldiers. The repulsors was able to take down low level Extermis soldiers with ease. *'Unibeam:' A more powerful version of the repulsor beams. It is located in the chest. However, it requires more power from the arc reactor to use and cannot be used as often. In Iron Man 3, Tony was finally able to kill Eric Savin with the unibeam, after the many times Savin had survive several shots from the repulsor blasts. *'Lasers:' A powerful weapon in the gauntlets that can cut threw common metals with no apparent effort, it however is not strong enough to penetrate a Leviathan's shell. It shows to be very proficient against the Hammer Drones. It was, in the Mark VI armor, a "one off", but Stark apparently equipped the Mark VII with multi-use laser systems, as seen in The Avengers. They draw power from the arc reactor for more sustained operations, and can theoretically reduce the armor energy reserves to a drained state if operated indefinitely. *'Smart mini-guns:' Small anti-personnel guns in the shoulders can mark individual targets and fire with accuracy. It's proved to be highly effective against unarmored foot soldiers. *'Missiles:' The armor holds a multi-fire adhesive grenade launcher in the upper arm. Including Anti-Tank, Armor-Piercing rounds. In The Avengers, ''The armor has mini rockets hidden in a secret compartment in the boosters on the back, that blew up numerous Chitauri ships. Tony is able to destroy a Leviathan by flying into its mouth and launching them throughout its body. In ''Iron Man 3, Tony was able use a missile hit by a repulsor to take down an helicopter-gunship, when his mansion was attacked by the Mandarin's forces. Quotes *'Tony Stark:' through Natalie's resume "She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?" *'Pepper Potts:' "No one speaks Latin. It's a dead language." ---- *'Agent Phil Coulson:' telephone "Mr. Stark, we need to talk." *'Tony Stark:' "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message." *'Agent Phil Coulson:' "This is urgent." *'Tony Stark:' "Then leave it urgently." ---- *'Tony Stark:' Loki's helmet "Make your move, reindeer games." ---- *'Steve Rogers:' "Is everything a joke to you?" *'Tony Stark:' "Funny things are." ---- *'Steve Rogers:' "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" *'Tony Stark:' "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." ---- *'Tony Stark:' "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them." Behind the scenes *Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance was uncredited in The Incredible Hulk. *Favreau had planned to cast a newcomer in the role but ultimately chose Downey (a fan of the comic) because he felt the actor's past made him an appropriate choice for the part. **The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye," the director explained. "He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character who is having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl. Favreau also felt Downey could make Stark a "likable asshole", but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience. Downey had an office next to Favreau during pre-production, which allowed him greater involvement in the screenwriting process. He brought a deeper sense of humor to the film not present in previous drafts of the script. *Downey stated that he initially pushed Whedon to make Stark the lead revealing in The Avengers, "Well, I said, ‘I need to be in the opening sequence. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.’ He was like, ‘Okay, let’s try that.’ We tried it and it didn't work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus." *''Iron Man 3'' director Shane Black says, "Tony Stark is now relying on these suits to feel like he's in any way capable. He surrounds himself with these things almost like a blanket. In The Avengers, he fought aliens, but he was the one character I would not have picked to fight aliens. Now we've taken advantage of the fact that he's fought aliens and he talks about it. Trivia *Before Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony, Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were interested in playing Iron Man. Cruise in particular was going to act in and produce the film. Cage played another Marvel superhero in Ghost Rider. According to Jon Favreau, Clive Owen and Sam Rockwell are among the actors that were considered for Tony Stark during pre-production. Rockwell would get a part in Iron Man 2 (2010) as Stark's rival Justin Hammer. *Tony originally says he's not nostalgic when Pepper asked if he wanted to keep his original Reactor, yet he keeps every single known armor he has ever created. This is because, after Obadiah Stane stole his Arc Reactor, he needed to use his old one, teaching Tony the value of keeping his older technology. *Tony Stark's ringtone is the original Iron Man theme song from the 1966 TV series. *Tony's screen time in The Avengers is 37:01. *The song Tony uses for his introductions in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers was "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC. Conversely, the band's recent music video for the song features scenes from Iron Man 2 interspersed with the band's on-stage performance at a concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina (from the DVD Live at River Plate). *Robert Downey Jr's performance as Tony Stark ranked 48 on Empire Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Movies Characters.